VP armor quests

[Windstriker]

Search Veeshan's Peak for an armor mold and correctly sized Magic Bag, rumored to drop only from the strongest dragons- then combine with the corresponding ancient stones which drop from the lesser dragons in VP and your class emblem, which can be purchased from the merchant at the zone-in.



Good luck.

[Shanefpt]

ANCIENT ARMOR QUEST:

This is a series of quests that will require your party to travel through Veeshan's Peak, Plane of Fear, LDoN missions (or World Boss drops), as well as other zones to acquire all parts and complete the set.

This tutorial will be split into sections that contain different steps and involve different zones. Some of the items can be prelooted before reaching T6.

(NOTE: The "Ancient" arms and gloves can be acquired before a character obtains Veeshan's Peak access, with the only requirement being that the character is level 70.)

Ancient Gloves:

ANCIENT METAL GLOVES http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12491
ANCIENT CHAIN GAUNTLETS http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12512
ANCIENT LEATHER GLOVES http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12517
ANCIENT SILK GLOVES http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12587

The first item on the list (and one of the easiest - but longest to obtain) is the Ancient Gloves. All variations modify spell damage by 90% while the leather variants sport a 20,000HP clicky group heal and the Cloth variant a 5,000DD lifetap, making these highly desirable armor throughout the upper raid tiers.

PRELOOT: Before heading to PoF to get the gloves you will want to grab 1x Proof of Dead Dragons found on:
Trakanon -- [Old Sebilis]
Aerin`Dar -- [Plane of Valor]
Nagafen -- [Nagafen's Lair]
Vyil`Lor -- [Stillmoon Temple]
Sung`Taar -- [Stillmoon Temple]
Kuln`Taar -- [Stillmoon Temple]

Then you will want to acquire 750 LDoN Points by completing LDoN's in the Hidden Vale (NPCs are Slaughter, Assassinate, Rescue, and Collection -- NOTE: you must be in a group to complete the LDoNs). Alternately, you can hunt World Bosses for the LDoN point tokens. If you have a more powerful (T3-T5 geared) then this will likely be a faster alternative. A list of many World Bosses can be found here:

http://www.thehiddenforest.org/wiki/index.php/World_Bosses

(NOTE: You may wish to grab the World Boss hunter quest if you choose this route -- kill two birds with one stone).

TEST -- TO BE COMPLETED SHORTLY -- TESTING HTML + DESIGN

[Shanefpt]

Odd... I am unable to edit my post now...

ANCIENT ARMOR (SET) QUEST CONTINUED...

After receiving 750 LDoN points you will need to visit the "Spell Vendor" in the Vale. She has the Magic Glove Unit for sale. Purchase with your 750 LDoN points.

Now head to Plane of Fear with your "Proof of Dead Dragons," and "Magic Glove Unit."

You are looking for an NPC named Hulio (a dwarf up on the "Hourglass Bridge") just north of the "zone-in" location. Hail him and run through his dialogue choosing "help." He will ask that you prove you are worthy by slaying a dragon and bringing him proof. Hand him the "Proof of Dead Dragons." Then hail him again and he will ask for a fancy glove unit from the tinkerers in the Vale. Hand him the "Magic Glove Unit."

Finally, Hulio will request that you kill the loudmouth that keeps yelling across the zone (Cazic Thule shouts out things every handful of seconds throughout the zone). If you have already killed Cazic and hailed the fairy OR used a Token of Xeru, Vex Thal, or Khasva, then you are already flagged for a Cazic Thule kill and can simply hail Hulio again to complete the quest now.

If not, gather some guildies and prepare for a long tough battle. Just remember, Cazic Thule can only be attacked after killing his golems Fright, Terror, Dread, and the Dracoliche. Cazic's knockback range is huge so be sure to clear out all the trash around him first -- keep your eyes peeled for some great augs, the PoF "Cazic's" augment line (Cazic's Command, Cazic's Order, Cazic's Wish, and Cazic's Word) is nice and probably some of the best augs you've seen unless you've participated in holiday/GM events, or had someone help you farm Aviaks, Kodiaks, and/or Bloodthirsty Sharks...

NOTE: To save time (and the need to repeat farming some items) be sure to loot the Fear Stone, Fear Liquid, Fragment of Fear, and Symbol of Nightmares as you are clearing out around the bosses. Also, upon Cazic's death be sure to ask to loot one of the "Proof of Cazic's Death," heads for Cyndreela in the Ancient Arms quest.

Return to Hulio once Cazic is dead and hail him. He will reward you with the appropriate Ancient Hands for your class.

Congratulations!

ANCIENT ARMS:

To start this quest speak to Cyndreela in Feerrott at the entrance to the Plane of Fear. (She is the erudite to the right of the ramp near the teleporter NPC)

Cyndreela asks the player to obtain four items for her:

Fear Stone
Fear Liquid
Fragment of Fear
Symbol of Nightmares

These items have a chance to drop off of almost all the trash mobs in the zone. The drop rate is 2.5% for each item. Although it seems very low, the table is used 10% of the time and the items appear fairly often by general observation.

Once you have collected the four items, return to Cyndreela and she will request that you kill the master of these nasties and return with the proof of his death.

Now you will need to get a group and kill Cazic Thule. As noted above, you will need to kill Fright, Terror, Dread and the Dracoliche first to be able to begin the boss fight -- and then it is highly suggested to clear all trash around Cazic Thule before engaging.

NOTE: Cazic Thule's knockback can be a real pain. The trick to this fight is using the terrain to your advantage. You can grow your tank to the largest size possible and place him in between the giant hourglass and Cazic to prevent him from being thrown halfway across the zone. Your casters, pet classes, and ranged fighters can huddle up behind the roots of the large trees or target Cazic before engaging and cast from behind the tree trunks (depending on your range extensions). Cazic's AoE knockback is LoS dependent and he must be able to "see" you (he does have eyes in the back of his head though). There is no 100% effective method to prevent it and it will still happen, but honestly that is the fun and uniqueness of this battle.

Once you have your Proof of Cazic's Death, return to Cyndreela for hails and reward:

Ancient Metal Vambraces http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12484
Ancient Chain Armguards http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12485
Ancient Leather Sleeves http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12486
Ancient Silk Sleeves http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=12488

Congratulations! You now have both the Ancient Gloves and Arms which should provide a significant boost to your defenses and spell abilities while also possibly providing some great support abilities.

NOTE: All items can be prelooted for this quest.

Now lets move on to Veeshan's Peak to complete the set!

[...to be continued]

[Shanefpt]

Onward to Veeshan's Peak, Norrath's private dragon resort for the Ring of Scales and home to the legendary dragon Phara Dar.

NOTE: Before heading off to complete this portion of the quest series, you will want to have as few bags with you as is necessary since a full clear/full set of armor will require you to have 6 bag slots available. Alternately, if you wish to purchase the Emblems from "An Old Guardian," (found just left of the bridge on a small island in the lava near the zone-in location) before looting the drops, this is fine since there is really no particular order for this part of the quest. Actually, although "An Old Guardian," does have some quest dialogue, it is not necessary to speak to him (outside of the purchase of the Emblems of your armor type for 10,000PP each). That noted, it makes this section of the quest, less a quest and more a collect and combine grind. You can also farm up your 60,000PP needed while doing your 750 LDoN's pretty easily, so collect those Blue Diamonds, Diamonds, Rubies, Jacinth, and Sapphires in those LDoN runs -- this is where it really pays off.

As you make your way through the zone you will encounter several challenging obstacles involving the trash mobs (I don't want to ruin it but the aggro is pretty large and you will get mobbed as you step into several rooms for the first time). Most trash mobs in the zone have a 4% chance to drop the collectible ancient minerals (on their own respective loot table each -- so it is better than normal odds) needed to combine with the Emblem and the Mold, in the designated bags. (This walkthrough will contain spoilers)

For a full set you will need:

3 x Opal of the Ancients (head) -- http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=17717
3 x Ruby of the Ancients (feet) -- http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=17714
4 x Sapphire of the Ancients (wrists) -- http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=17719
4 x Emerald of the Ancients (legs) -- http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=17718
4 x Diamond of the Ancients (chest) -- http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/items.php?id=17716

NOTE: The drop rate of these ancient minerals is pretty generous and you will likely gather enough for two or three full sets in a single clearing of the zone.


ANCIENT BOOTS:

I am going to start you heading thru VP to the lair of Xygoz for the Ancient Boot Mold and Medium Magic Bag.

From the zone-in head straight ahead through the winged drake trash mobs up to the first mini-boss Racnoretta. You will need your tank/puller to split Racnoretta away from the smaller racnors surrounding her because they can force whomever had aggro to feign death (be sure your main tank is aware of such because they will need to click the sit/stand button to get back up and regain aggro, in the meantime the rest of the party is fair game -- this happens frequently and can cause a wipe fast). I typically follow the left wall up utilizing LoS to pull the first away, hugging the wall about 5ft away. Slowly move forward and pull the front left racnor and back away as soon as he shows in your extended target window (do NOT take aggressive action until you've pulled it away or you will get the whole room). Once you have dispatched the first one go to the opposite side of the hall and run into the room snugly against the wall grabbing the second front racnor, the one straight behind it, and a winged drake that you probably hadn't seen until now. Wait a moment until the rear racnor moves forward past Racnoretta before you begin backing up to the group. Hug the wall and pull them back. Once you have dispatched the trash you are ready for Racnoretta. There will be one more racnor add in the back, when you pull her, keep the tank on Racnoretta but send a DPS or two over to dispatch the racnor which lends to a more comfortable and controlled fight. Once she goes down she is going to spawn about 20 hatchlings that have low hit points but can hit pretty hard. Dispatch them quickly. If you have your tank cast an AoE stun/taunt to grab them as the dps cycles through them and knocks them out quickly.

Continue up the hill and halfway over the bridge slamming through the trash (remember to check for the combination materials for your gear). Then stop, heal and rebuff as needed. The next area you will see a bunch of little black drakes fluttering around. If you aggro one of these you get them all. They are only a moderate difficulty but all of them at once is a force to be reckoned with. Be careful and good luck!

Once you have dispatched the death drakes, you can continue forward to SIlverwing and Hoskar (if you decide to do so skip to the "ANCIENT HELM" or "ANCIENT BRACER II" sections of this guide), but we'll head there later. This route will allow you to get your materials for the combine in advance and also allow you to farm up some augs and other useful drops on the road to the easiest boss battle of the zone. You will also be able to gauge your group's strength and see if you are ready to proceed to the next portion of the quest. Instead, head to the right of the bridge and follow the pathway to the left of the lava river. On the way you will need to fight through several regions of trash and Milyex Vloren (miniboss -- beware of the hatchlings!). When you get to the large dragon spa room, you are going to want to go the direction of Kluzen the Protector (a large grey/white wyvern like you would find in Sleeper's Tomb). Elder Ekron (another miniboss) will be behind Kluzen to the right and is an optional battle (he can drop some decent augs though -- no different than any other miniboss in the zone). Immediately after, to the left, there will be a few roaming trash mobs then Qunard Ashenclaw. All these minibosses are relatively easy but they all spawn about 20 hatchling adds after they die so be ready with those AoEs for crowd control.

Continue around to the left, through the big empty room, up the stairs, then around to the right dispatching trash along the way. Now you will see the Protector(s) of Nexona and Druushk to the right as you continue around (be careful not to fall off the ledge to the left -- if the fall don't kill you -- about 32,000-38,000 damage -- Hoshkar will) to the left. At the end of the balcony/walkway you will see the Protector of Xygoz.

The Protector of Xygoz (as well as the Protector(s) of Druushk and Nexona) are probably the easiest of minibosses in the entire zone. All are highly susceptible to negative status effects and can be slowed. When they die they will cause one of three things to happen:

1. They will spawn "An Elder Wyvern Guardian," ahead, which is like a strong trash mob more than a miniboss.

2. They will spawn 3 drakes (Death Watcher, Health Watcher, and Spiritual Watcher) which are also tougher trash mobs more than minibosses.

3. They will spawn a new "Protector of XXX" miniboss to replace them and it will begin attacking you immediately.

Whatever your luck brings, dispatch the nuisance mob(s) and move forward to Xygoz's Lair.

NOTE: Bridges over lava have switches that look like a lever (or a straight stick with a ball on top) nearby but are often hard to see due to the background colors. I was originally taught to run up and jump at the drawbridge clicking wildly to bring it down. As the one who activated the bridge swims back in the lava the group runs across and then lowers the bridge by clicking from the far side for the first guy. This is not the correct way to do it. There is a lever, click it and the bridge comes down.

Xygoz: Boss Battle -- http://www.thehiddenforest.org/webtools/npcs.php?id=108053

Oddly enough, Xygoz is a bard. Not many bosses in the game can say that. She has a pretty common medium AoE stun that she uses and is capable of about 1200-5000 damage per hit, depending on gear and stats (if she hits for more against your tank you aren't exactly ready for this fight). Xygoz does randomly flurry and rampages pretty often, but she is permarooted so just be sure to keep your casters and healers back, while the healers are on the ready to spotheal your melee DPS section, and you should be fine.

Dispatch Xygoz and loot the "Ancient Boot Mold," and "Medium Magic Box."

Congratulations!

If you beat Xygoz easily or without much issue then continue on to "ANCIENT BRACER I," below for Druushk strategy.

NOTE: If this boss wiped your group (especially on a second or third try) or gave you extreme difficulty -- you may not be ready for this quest and may need to check and be sure you have a full set of Powerful gear from T4/T5 and additionally T5+ augs (an often overlooked set of items that offer great skill boosts). With a full party, fully geared, he should be pretty easy. If you had extreme difficulty with this mob, take your loot and regroup. Head back and finish up missed quests and/or drops you can get and come back for the remaining boss drops since Xygoz is pretty well (arguably) the easiest dragon you will face from here on out and a few are outright hard (usually due to spawned adds). Make a checklist: Powerful gear from Doomfire, Plane of Air augments set, Gwinor Class Ring, 2.0+2.8 aug, Solo Aura, Healing Automation from Shadow Haven, WoS Pets (buff for pet classes; buff+pet for non-pet classes), upgraded Charm of Queeen Adrianne, etc. The rest is just a bonus and will make things easier but this is more or less the base required for stability in VP for the majority of your group.

If you feel confident to press forward then we will head right next door to Druushk!

(...to be continued)

[HaroldBer]

Awesome VP armor quests guide Shane. Thanks for making an effort and sharing.

[Shanefpt]

You're welcome... Glad someone found it useful...

[Shanefpt]

I just realized that it is incomplete... SQUIRREL! Blame it on my ADD...